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28 October, 2013

Formula for success

Productivity in business is directly related to business. In fact success is measured by increase in productivity. There is a glamour for success all over the world. But few have attempted to define success and find out the true inputs to effectively achieve it.

The first lesson to learn about success is that it is an effect. And an effect belongs to the future. Everyone longs for success. Wishes to gain the effect without really going into its cause. Not realising that every effect has a cause. Not realising that every effect has a cause. That you reap what you sow. It is an impeccable law. But the mass of humanity craves for the fruit without even planting the seed. You therefore need to attend to the cause for gaining success. And the cause for success is appropriate action. If your action is proper, perfect it would result in success. If improper, imperfect it would be a failure. In truth, your present action itself transforms into success or failure at a future period of time depending upon its quality.

Ideal action

An ideal action is made up of three essential constituents:

Concentration

Consistency

Cooperation

A practitioner of these three disciplines has the appropriate action to command success in his field of operation. Productivity in business requires continual intellectual supervision while applying these rudiments of success. These three words may be used liberally in management lobbies but few have gone into their deeper import. Much less put them into practice. You, therefore, need to thoroughly understand these concepts. And apply them in your business.

1. Concentration

Concentration is the art of focusing the mind in the present. The human mind has a natural tendency to slip into worry of the past or anxiety for the future. Concentration is the technique exercised by your intellect to hold the mind on the present action without allowing it to slip into the past or future. You would need a powerful intellect to keep the mind focused. Concentration is measured by the extent the intellect engages the mind in the present.

2. Consistency

The second discipline is to be consistent in what you do. Having set an ideal to reach for, a goal to achieve your actions should flow in that direction. But there is a problem in maintaining this flow because the mind is prone to stray into other attractions. You need a strong intellect to overcome the mind's distractions and keep the actions going in the set direction. This technique of channelising your actions towards the goal is consistency. The practice of consistency lends power, strength to your action. You observe this clearly in nature. Water flowing in one direction has power. So does wind blowing in one direction. And light focused to a point. Thus through consistency your actions turn powerful.

A simple example taken from sports would illustrate the part played by consistency in achieving success. Consider an internatinal tennis star being inconsistent in his practice of the game. Being often drawn to playing othe games he fails to keep up with the rigorous practice that international competition demands. He would then be deprived of success in his field regardless of his proficiency in the game.

3. Cooperation

The third discipline is cooperation. To achieve an objective you need a spirit of cooperative endeavour. It is difficult to be successful and productive in a business without the active cooperation of colleagues. The principle applies to companies, communities and countries. Germany and Japan were devastated in the last World War. No sooner the war ended than the nations pooled their efforts cooperatively to rebuild their nations. They returned to power and strength both economically and politically. The United States and Australia could boast of nothing a little over two hundred years back. The early settlers had to pool their resources in a spirit of cooperative endeavour to build their nations. Both have emerged as powerful nations of the world. Thus the third essential requirement for success is met with when the intellect maintains a true spirit of cooperation among those concerned in the business.

Conclusion:

Maintaining the above three disciplines your actions should spell success and productivity in any field of endeavour.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Source: Excerpts from the book on "Governing Buisness and Relationship" by Swamy A Parthasarathy.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~